Folie à Trois: a Will X Hannibal

A Killer's Serenade...

Narrator's POV

A around an hour and a half later, Will arrived in across the street of 'Chordophone String Shop' and found Hannibal waiting in his Bentley in front of the shop.

"Hope I didn't keep you waiting too long." Will greeted as he walked up to his husband

Hannibal turned to face him, "I haven't been here long; I had ample time to stop by home to check up on Abigail."

"Has she decided which online university she wants to attend yet?" Will asked, remembering how frustrated she had been during dinner last night

Hannibal shook his head slightly, "Still arguing with herself over careers, I'm afraid."

Will shrugged as he opened the door and hurried to stop the bell from ringing, whispering, "Well there's no rush."

A composition could be heard as they walked deeper into the shop, presumably from the owner.

Will then walked into another room, going to where he remembered the trap door was.

Hannibal walked alone towards the counter, listening to the tune.

"You were Franklyn's therapist, Dr. Lecter, I believe we met at the opera." The violinist said as he walked towards him

"Nice to see you again. Is it Tobias?" Hannibal asked

"Yes." Tobias confirmed

Hannibal then turned towards one of the nearest instruments on display, "Your strings are all gut."

Tobias went towards a counter, "I also carry steel and polymer strings, if you prefer."

"I prefer gut. Harps strung with gut still make music after two thousand years." Hannibal replied, plucking a string

Tobias' eyes narrowed a bit after hearing footsteps coming from downstairs, "I didn't hear you ring the bell."

"I didn't want you to stop playing. Was it an original composition?" Hannibal asked, knowing Tobias was on to Will

"Something I've been writing. You compose?" Tobias inquired

"I discover." Hannibal clarified, "Can't impose traditional composition on an instrument that's inherently free form."

Tobias roads an eyebrow, "What instrument would that be?"

"The Theremin." Hannibal answered, "It can generate any pitch throughout its range —even those between conventional notes."

"And so can a violin, or a trombone." Tobias countered

"It seems we are both comfortable playing between conventional notes." Hannibal said, then changing the subject, "I hear the symphony's looking for a new trombonist."

"Altogether horrible what happened." Tobias said, his voice still neutral

"Not altogether. It's an unfortunate way to leave the symphony, yes, but I can't help thinking the orchestra will be better for it." Hannibal replied

Tobias smirked a bit, "At least the brass section. What brings you here looking for gut?"

"My harpsichord needs new strings. It's making an awful noise. Perhaps you could help." Hannibal asked, hearing Will open the door to his car

***

After arranging a date and time as well as paying for the new strings, Hannibal returned to his car and drove home.

When he arrived, he found Will connecting his phone to the home computer, printing out evidence of what Tobias was making.

Before Hannibal could speak, the brunette answered his question, "Just a bit of insurance to make sure our guest plays nice."

***

As the three of them sat at dinner, Tobias having finished restringing the harpsichord, the psychiatrist asked their guest, "More wine? A late harvest Vidal from Linden.

"Oh, Virginia." The dark skinned guest said as his glass was poured into, "I thought it was French."

"The Virginia wine revolution is upon us." Hannibal clarified with a chuckle as he sat down at the head of the table

After awhile, Hannibal said, "I apologize for being so blunt, Tobias, but I have to ask: did you kill that trombonist?"

"Do you really have to ask?" The cello player replied, answering with a question of his own

"No. Just changing the subject." The Lithuanian man smirked, taking a sip from his wine

Will turned to look at the man seated across from him, "The murder is being investigated by the F.B.I.; they're going to find you."

Tobias turned from Hannibal towards the profiler, calmly replying, "Let them."

"You want to get caught?" Will asked, a chestnut eyebrow raised

"I want them to try. They may investigate me because I own a string shop. They'll send men to investigate, and I'll kill them. Then I would disappear." Tobias informed, his voice never loosing its calmness until the end where he gained a smirk, "Actually, I was going to kill you two."

"Of course you were: we're lean. Lean animals yield the toughest gut." Hannibal neutrally replied, his voice barely hinting at his excitement, "What stopped you from wanting to kill us? Or have you stopped?"

"I stopped after I followed you two one night. Out of town. To a lonely road. To a bus yard." Tobias informed, his voice gaining a seriousness

Hannibal chuckled, his excitement in full display, "You're reckless, Tobias."

Will chuckled as well, remembering his and Hannibal's most recent kill: a man they had cut in half and left in an abandoned bus, the victim —some rude doctor Hannibal had seen years ago— left sitting across the aisle from himself; his heart and liver had been a wonder dinner the night after their kill.

"I'm not going to tell anyone what I saw you both do and do well. So my recklessness doesn't concern you." The cello player assured

"It concerns us because you won't be drawing attention just to yourself." Will warned

"I could use a friend. Someone who can understand me. Who thinks like I do and can see the world and the people in it the way I do." Tobias blurted

"We know exactly how you feel." Hannibal replied, his voice teasing

But Will interjected, killing the guest's hopes, "But we don't want to be your friend."

"Then why did you invite me here for dinner?" Tobias asked, "I wasn't just to restring your harpsichord."

Will smirked, "We're going to kill you and display what's left of you just as we did to Franklyn."

The man looked down at his plate, his hand reaching towards his mouth.

"I didn't poison you, Tobias." Hannibal soothed, "I wouldn't do that to the food."...